Thiruvananthapuram: In view of growing concern over Ebola virus, which has claimed over 4,000 lives worldwide, Indian Medical Association here is working on a training and awareness programme for its members on tackling outbreak of various viral diseases.

The programme is envisaged to help medical fraternity in the state to stay updated on the emerging and re-emerging viral diseases and equip them to face emergencies, IMA's Kerala chapter members said.

Kottayam - June 25 - How many of us know that the day India became independent - Aug 15, 1947 - was a Friday? Or that then prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated on a Wednesday, and that Princess Diana of Britain died on a Sunday?

All you need to figure out the day of the year, no matter what year, is to refer to a 14-page calendar that an X-ray technician here has printed.

Shaji Thomas, 47-year-old X-ray technician, now eyes an entry in the Guinness World Records for his calendar, which in 28 pages captures 3,000 years.

Thiruvananthapuram, April 5 : Kerala Health Minister V. S. Sivakumar Friday said 42 percent of Kerala's population suffers from high blood pressure. The minister was speaking ahead of World Health Day, which falls Sunday.

WHO's theme for health day this year is hypertension, or high blood pressure.

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 20 : The list of people who have signed up to donate their eyes in Kerala is very large -- but when it comes to actual donation, just 250 corneal transplants took place last year, according to the Kerala Society of Ophthalmic Surgeons (KSOS).

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 11 : The female condom has not gained the kind of social acceptability in India it should have been six years after its launch but efforts are underway to reverse the trend, its manufacturer says.

But HLL Lifecare, which manufactures the condom with the support of Britain's Female Health Company (FHC), appears to be taking things on its stride as the male condom also took a long time to gain popularity.

Kochi, Sep 11 : DM Healthcare, a leading conglomerate in the country and the Middle East, Tuesday announced an investment of over Rs. 2,150 crore to create 3,100 hospital beds in Kerala through eight different projects.

The projects are in various stages of completion in Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Palakkad and Kannur districts, the company said. Most of these projects are expected to be operational in the next five years.

Thiruvananthapuram, July 21 - It took the death by food poisoning of a 21-year-old to shake Kerala's health authorities out of their slumber on the lack of basic hygiene in many eateries across the state. In the past few days, some 50 establishments of varying sizes have been shut across the state for not following minimum standards.

All the 20,000 eateries across the state were shut Saturday to protest the health department's raids.

Thiruvananthapuram, June 23 - Kerala has one of the highest reported incidences of head and neck cancers, which constitute over 30 per cent of all cancers in the Indian subcontinent, said experts here in a press release Saturday.

Subramania Iyer, director of the Head and Neck Institute at Kochi's Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, identified tobacco use as the major cause of head and neck cancers.

Thiruvananthapuram, June 22 : Doctors are gearing up to combat the rising number of dengue cases here, as the arrival of monsoon results in a surge in such cases.

A Faseelathu Beevi, medical superintendent at the state run general hospital, told reporters on Friday that with the onset of monsoon there has been a significant rise in the number of patients suffering from the deadly disease.

Kochi , June 4 - City-based Coresys Infotech Monday launched eClinician, the mobile version of its clinical decision support system (CDSS) on Android software, which will help medical professionals diagnose disease easily.

Marayoor , Jan 19 - It's been a while since tribal Adivasi women and girls in three villages of Kerala's Idukki district have menstruated. Reason? They have been popping contraceptive pills to avoid the inconvenience of those few days, say people from the area.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 11 - For the first time in south India, a hospital here has introduced 'Wireless Capsule Endoscopy', a new diagnostic tool for the non-invasive detection of small bowel diseases.

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 19 - With the international market for medicinal plants estimated to be around $60 billion and their exports from India crossing Rs. 3,000 crore ($567 million), Kerala -- home to a huge variety, as well as quantity, of medicinal plants -- has decided to streamline their growth and marketing in a systematic manner.

Thiruvananthapuram, July 7 : World class hospitals, cost-effective treatment and ample opportunities to relax in the scenic landscape of 'God's own country' -- medical tourism promises to be the next big money spinner in Kerala, with a steady stream of overseas patients flocking to the state.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 10 - The Kerala Women's Commission (KWC) has asked the state government to pass resolutions and, if necessary, a law to ensure that all those who get married undergo an HIV test.

"This is an issue that is affecting the entire humanity and hence adequate measures have to be taken to safeguard all," KWC chairperson Justice (retd) D. Sreedevi said.

The commission made the request in the wake of several cases where men got married in spite of knowing that they were HIV positive.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 3 - He died once but was cremated twice. This is what happened in Ernakulam due to the callousness of a private hospital that got the identities of two bodies kept in the mortuary mixed up.

A retired army officer and a close relative of a senior judge of the Kerala High Court, both in their 80s, died in Ernakulam and their bodies were kept by relatives in the mortuary of a private hospital before the final rites. Both the deceased were Hindus.